Question

Why do plants make glucose instead of ATP?

Answer 1

The plant needs energy for making food. So plants make up glucose, the plant can store this molecule and then use it to produce energy during the night and over winter when there isn't sunlight to be provided for the process of photosynthesis. Glucose is the by-product as it contains more energy.

Complete answer:
The process of photosynthesis begins with the flow of energy by using different kinds of energy- carrying molecules to transform sunlight energy into chemical energy for the process of making food. Chlorophyll, a green colour pigment present in most of the plants, helps in converting solar energy into chemical energy. When this molecule absorbs energy, electrons are excited and they jump to higher energy levels. The excited electrons then bounce to a series of carrier molecules, losing a little energy at each step. Most of the energy being lost is at a cellular level such as moving ions across a membrane. Two of the most important energy- carrying molecules are glucose and adenosine triphosphate are referred as ATP. Let us infer about the molecules:
GLUCOSE- It is a carrier of chemical energy uptake by the cell. It is the only deliverable form of energy that carries in your blood through the capillaries. It is the form of carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis. It is the energy - rich product of photosynthesis which is a universal food for life. It is the primary form in which energy is given in the body through the bloodstream.
ATP- It is a molecule that stores energy, but each releases just the right amount to actually work within the cell. The process of photosynthesis also makes and uses ATP for energy to build glucose, ATP, which is a usable form of energy of the cell also referred to as the "energy currency" of the cell.
Glucose is made as a by-product in the process of photosynthesis because glucose contains much more energy as compared to ATP. During photosynthesis, light energy is converted to chemical energy and is stored in the form of glucose and gets transported to the various parts of the plant. Glucose is broken down to produce ATP in the mitochondria of different cells when cells require energy. This energy that is released from ATP hydrolysis is utilised to do cellular work.

Note:
The first photosynthetic organisms that evolved early in the evolutionary history of life used reducing agents such as hydrogen or hydrogen sulfide, rather than water, as sources of electrons. In plants, algae and cyanobacteria, long-term energy storage in the form of sugars is produced by the light-independent reactions called the Calvin cycle.